Depserate Mentality Crack

by Olivier Zintz (http://climbing.ilooove.it/story/depserate-mentality-crack)

In January 2014 we were in Cochamo Valley to enjoy big wall climbing after a month of wind and cold in the Fitz Roy massif.

We decided to climb the route "Los Manos del Día" because Daniel Seeliger (the owner of the refuge and opener of this route) told us there still a really attractive variation for the last pitch of the route, a virgin roof crack ! We were super excited about the idea of finding the Chilean version of the famous "Separate Reality" roof crack in Yosemite National Park.

We attack the 400 meter route early in the morning to have time enough for cleaning and trying to free this crack . The first pitches were a bit sketchy because the rock was wet . But the climb was pleasant in technical dihedral, mostly with tips finger crack .

Then the route goes by a super fun big flake on pitch seven, probably one of the best pitch in the route . Than on pitch eleven there's a nice hand crack in a steep wall, again a dream pitch. In the middle of the afternoon we arrive under the roof with the crack which bulges out 8 meters. We decide to give it an "onsight" attempt but the three of us failed at the end lip. It was wet and dirty so we cleaned it before the second try.

The second try was the goods, way easier with a clean crack ! The grade is about 5.11+ so it keep the homogeneity of the route.

We called this last pitch "desperate mentality" as a hint to her twin sister in Yosemite . It's certainly the best way to finish this perfect route!

Olivier.